An Open Letter to the Southern Poverty Law Center from William Gheen

SPLC,

It has come to my attention that you have changed the designation of my peaceful political and racially inclusive organization Americans for Legal Immigration (ALIPAC at ALIPAC.us) to that of a "Hate Group" instead of our prior designation as "Nativist Extremist" for the purposes of your latest hit piece.

Your efforts to ask PayPal not to help us accept donations is a direct attack on our civil rights. As Americans, we should have the right to speak and exercise our free political speech in the form of donations to any candidates or political actions committees we like without the SPLC attempting to harm our efforts.

This open letter will be delivered to your offices by certified mail and then turned over to our attorney for further action.

This letter is to inform you that we have internet posts and emails containing threats and death threats against my life and the lives of my family members in reaction to your false claims that we are a hate group. The threats we have received specifically cite SPLC claims that suggest we are somehow motivated by racism and advocating violence against minorities, both of which are demonstrably false.

The SPLC is fully aware of our many appeals for Americans of all races to unite and work together peacefully on this issue. The SPLC is fully aware that ALIPAC is a racially inclusive organization, and that a substantial percentage of our supporters are minorities. The SPLC is fully aware that ALIPAC has openly and eagerly worked with minority organizations and leaders. The SPLC is fully aware that I have a background in registering and transporting minority and student voters and working to elect women and minorities to public office in the '90s. The SPLC is fully aware that we never intentionally work with any racist or violent groups or individuals, and you are aware that we have publicly spoken out against racism and racist groups and individuals on numerous occasions.

In your efforts to libel us and defame us on behalf of your political agenda, you have excluded all of this information that you possess.

Let this letter serve as your official notice of all of the factors I've listed here including your official notice that your designation of ALIPAC as hate group, while no evidence exists that anyone in our organization has ever engaged in racism, hate, or violence against minorities, has crossed the line of civil discourse and is now directly encouraging people to threaten violence against me and my family.

I am loving and caring family man, a taxpayer, and an American citizen who deserves to be able to engage in politics and issues without being intentionally and falsely maligned to such a point that people want to kill me because they think I want to cause physical harm to minorities.

No American deserves to endure what the SPLC is doing to any innocent man or woman who stands in the way of your agenda. It is time for your deadly game to stop.

Now, you are attempting to mislead our donations company PayPal by telling them that we are one of 91 "Hate Groups" using their services in the hopes they will stop allowing us to accept donations which pale in comparison to your multimillion dollar yearly budget.

Let this letter serve as notice to each of you at the Southern Poverty Law Center including Morris Dees, Mark Potok, and Heidi Beirich that I personally intend to hold you each legally responsible and personally responsible for any physical harm that befalls me, my organization, or my family due to your intentional lies and distortions.

Furthermore, we are going to hold you accountable for any lost services or funds that result in your attempt to muddy the waters around our peaceful, political, racially inclusive, and law abiding organization.

While it is obvious why you chose to sneak ALIPAC onto your "Hate Group" list without any kind of formal announcement, you need to remove us from that list within the next 30 days now that you have been served official notice of your mistake and official notice that your mistake is leading to death threats directed against me which we have documented.

Your false characterization of groups has led to violence such as the DC shooter Floyd Corkins who tried to kill as many people as possible at the Family Research Council.

Otherwise, I believe it is time we put to the test in the courts your false claims and attempts to stir people and companies up against us by mischaracterizing a peaceful multiracial organization such as ALIPAC as similar to Neo-Nazis and the KKK.

Just because we oppose illegal immigration, any form of amnesty for illegals, and the SPLC does not make us a hate group, racist, or violent despite your efforts to convince others of such lies.